Footprints in the Snow
by Andramion
Summary: Haikyuu! Secret Santa 2014 gift for Carolyn (I'm very late posting this to FFnet ahaha) [TsukiHina & KageYachi] 2nd-years Tsukishima and Yachi try to find a way to deal with their crushes on oblivious people.


If Tsukishima was asked to name five reasons he found Hinata Shouyou one of the most annoying creatures in the universe, it would be easy to comply with the request.

First of all, there was the fact that whenever Hinata was in the same space as him, Tsukishima would catch himself following the boy with is eyes. As the smaller boy jumped around the gym, as he walked through the hallway, as he wriggled his way past the guys in the doorway and into class 4's classroom, everywhere he went, Tsukishima found his eyes drawn to Hinata Shouyou and it pissed him off.

Secondly, there was the way Hinata spoke: the _gyun_ and _pow_ and _swoosh_ , the endless stream of sound effects and exaggerated hand gestures and each and every one of his ramblings concluding in Tsukishima feeling like his brain had changed into mush and was now unable to process speech. He didn't like it, how somehow this weird language seemed to get through to the King, how his senpai nodded and smiled in reply, how even Yamaguchi made conversation with him like everything he said made sense. Tsukishima would listen to Hinata speak to others, overwork himself trying to process how this alien language worked, then turn away with his teeth clenched in frustration.

Third on the list was the way Hinata's energy switch seemed to always be flipped to the _on_ side, unless the senpai had bribed Tsukishima into helping the boy study. Hinata bounced around, never tired of the endless drills, and then managed to turn _leaving_ the exhausting practice into a match too. Tsukishima sure wasn't fond of how Hinata and Kageyama egged each other on and bounded down the stairs to the side of the school's club rooms annex; was always surprised to see the two of them having gotten out of their race unharmed when he arrived at the coach's store at the bottom of the hill.

Fourth was how Hinata called his name, how the shape of it seemed to just roll off his tongue so easily, the request for his attention spiked with a hint of annoyance, aggravation or exasperation most of the time; seldom coloured with admiration for the block he just managed, for the high score written at the top right corner of the test Tsukishima had passed so easily. Tsukishima hated how, whenever he addressed the other boy, the 'Hinata' got replaced by a 'you' and the name grew heavy on his tongue as he kept it from escaping.

And lastly, there was the way that Hinata Shouyou, ball of energy extraordinaire, smile-made-of-sunlight, 162 centimetres of pure unadulterated joy, made Tsukishima Kei, apathetic, introverted, energy-conservative beanpole of a seventeen-year-old Tsukishima Kei, long for the day he could call all of it his.

That was what he told Yachi Hitoka, who he had run into in town two hours before, when they hid from the early winter cold in a warm, cosy café, the small table between them filled with two cups, one plate with chocolate cake crumbles and one with a strawberry shortcake untouched.

"So…" Yachi's voice trailed off as she poked at the crumbs on her plate with her fork. She didn't really know what to say after this long rant; definitely hadn't expected her day to pack out like this when she left the house that morning.

In front of her, Tsukishima sighed and picked his own fork up, cutting a piece of his cake off and stuffing his mouth. At least that gave him an excuse to keep quiet for now.

"Doesn't that mean that you… like him? Is that what you're saying?" When she looked up, she could see his cheeks faintly dusted with red. _Well, there's a surprise,_ she thought to herself. She definitely wouldn't have guessed, not in a million years, with the way Tsukishima treated her friend on a daily basis. Sure, she'd thought the five of them had grown a little closer now that they were second-years, but most of the time, just calling Tsukishima and Hinata _friends_ sounded like an exaggeration. "Don't you think you should start by being a bit nicer if you want him to notice it?" she blurted out before even thinking.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Tsukishima turned a frown on her and Yachi's heart seemed to jump up into her throat.

"You're one to talk," Tsukishima told her, his voice low and eyes narrowed slightly more than they normally were. "You've had a crush on the King for over a year and haven't done anything about it."

"Wh-wha-what? N-no, I don-, that's – ah…" Tsukishima let her blunder her way through the many times her brain tried to restart that sentence, until she just gave up, leaned her elbows on the table and covered her face with her hands. Eventually she peeked through a crack between her fingers and looked him in the eye. "I would ask you how you figured it out, but, well…" _I already know you're very observant,_ she added in her head.

At least that part she could make sense of. She knew she wasn't particularly secretive about the feelings she'd harboured for Kageyama for a long time already; the only reason he himself didn't know about it was because he was as dense about anything regarding the subject as he could be.

Really, Yachi had even tried to confess to him once, but that had ended up in her having half a panic attack thinking about the ways she would destroy Karasuno's chances at nationals and Kageyama immediately alerting Hinata, who luckily had Yamaguchi with him. By then, Yamaguchi already knew how to deal with her in those situations.

What she couldn't see, no matter how hard she searched her brain, was the point at which Tsukishima had changed. She didn't know if it even existed, because to her it seemed Tsukishima didn't treat Hinata any different from the way he did the day she'd first met him.

But then again, maybe he'd always liked Hinata.

"I should just give up," Yachi sighed, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. "I'm never going to be able to tell him how I feel." She was sure that if she wasn't in public right now, she'd just curl up into a ball on the floor. How much easier it would be if she didn't think about him all the time, if she didn't remember every moment their eyes had met; every time she'd accidentally bumped into him and every time it wasn't quite so accidental.

It had been both nerve wrecking and exciting at first, trying to see what reaction she would get if she brushed her hand against his when passing him his water bottle, wondering what he would say about her yukata at the summer festival. She liked that she was the only girl he talked to more than strictly necessary, she liked that he would sometimes start a conversation with her first, that he would come to stand next to her during breaks in practice and that he would lightly tap her elbow and say thanks when they started up again.

She definitely liked the sparkle that appeared in his eyes as soon as his hands touched a volleyball, the exuberant smile after his toss turned out just the way he wanted it to and the ball smacked down on the other side of the court because the spiker had been able to spike it with ease.

"Stop gushing," Tsukishima's voice cut through and Yachi's mouth shut immediately, because she hadn't realised she'd been talking out loud. She glanced at the table and saw the strawberry shortcake was almost gone, the coffee completely drained from the cup and her own hot chocolate on its way to being cold.

"Sorry," she muttered as she picked up her cup and slowly emptied it. The thing about becoming aware of what's going on – in Yachi's case at least – was that she started to become overly aware of the situation. It felt weird to be sitting there with Tsukishima, drinking hot beverages on a cold day and talking about their crushes.

It had been awkward enough when she'd seen him across the little square in the middle of town and had waved at him while calling his name, only to get a look that suggested he was torn between sticking to social etiquette and just walking off without acknowledging her. She'd gone out to get a reference book for school, but ended up spending her afternoon on what must've looked like a date to anyone who looked at them.

It didn't help alleviate her stress when Tsukishima pretty much dragged her into the café, gruffly inquired about her order and then proceeded to tell her how he'd invited Hinata out and how Hinata had showed up with Kageyama in tow. Which eventually lead to Tsukishima ranting about how much he hated Hinata, while every new reason he did so made it sound more and more like the opposite.

Her cup clinked when she set it back down on the dish and she wished she'd remembered to cushion with her pinkie. Across the table, the last bite of Tsukishima's cake disappeared into his mouth. One second, two seconds, three and then:

"I'd like to make a suggestion."

* * *

"Yamaguchi! Tsukishima!" Hinata's voice filled the room as he bounded into classroom 4 only a minute after lunch period had started. He had his bento in his hand, wrapped up in a bright and colourful cloth Tsukishima knew his younger sister had picked out. Hinata had pointed that out every time he brought his lunch to school like that. "Let's have lunch together!"

Tsukishima wasn't surprised. This had become a regular occurrence after their study sessions during the late winter of their first year, when both Tsukishima and Yachi had been trying their best to make Hinata and Kageyama pass to the next grade. Yamaguchi usually pulled over another three chairs when he sat down by Tsukishima's table, the spots ready to be filled by the three other second-years.

"Thanks, Yamaguchi," Hinata said, as he did every time, and he stepped around the first two chairs to plop down on the one next to Tsukishima. Tsukishima kept himself from shuffling his chair a bit further away from the menace that was Hinata Shouyou and _food._

"Yachi-san said she was going to be later, she's on duty today," Yamaguchi clarified and Hinata let out a loud 'oh!' before saying he'd almost forgotten to say that Kageyama had told him the same.

"You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your neck," Tsukishima told him and Hinata stuck his tongue out at him as he took his chopsticks in hand.

"You sound like my mum when you say that."

He wanted to retort, wanted to bite back again, but his gaze stuck to the sight of Hinata's hands clapping together in thankfulness for the food, the movement of his chopsticks as he brought food to his mouth and finally, on those lips, grains of rice stuck to them.

Tsukishima sighed and tried to focus on his own food.

As he finished up and closed his lunch box again, something outside the window caught his eye. Because he did a double take, he alerted Hinata to it too, who immediately stood up, leaning forward with his hands supporting him on the table.

"IT'S SNOWING!" he let out and somewhere in the back of Tsukishima's head, the thought that Hinata was one of those people to wish for a white Christmas popped up, the image of a tinier version of Hinata excitedly looking out the window distracting him until the current - _still tiny_ , Tsukishima thought – Hinata pulled on his sleeve.

"Tsukishima, it's snowing, let's go outside! You too, Yamaguchi!"

"With the way it looks there's going to be a stupidly thick layer of snow on a bit, shortie, I'm not going. I don't want my trousers to get wet."

And there it was: the _I won't_ , _I don't want to,_ the _no way_ that he always offered and that Hinata could somehow always turn around, so it was no surprise that he ended up following Hinata down the hall, walking towards the shoe lockers while wrapping his scarf around his neck.

* * *

"They're probably outside," Yachi offered Kageyama, as he stood in the middle of classroom 4 with her, looking at empty tables with empty lunch boxes on top of them. "It's snowing, so Hinata would go outside, right?"

"Dumbass," he muttered, his eyes sweeping what he could see of the courtyard from the windows up there, but the snow still seemed untouched. He was sure Hinata would be the first person outside, so that meant the other three were still on their way there.

He turned around, but walked away a lot slower than he would have if Yachi wasn't there. He didn't want to leave her behind, didn't want to make her have to run after him. It seemed so logical now, but it had actually taken him a while to realise that Yachi, with her shorter legs, couldn't walk as fast as he did.

He'd found her standing in Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's classroom, probably halfway through building up a worst-case scenario in her head when he put his hand down on her shoulder in greeting. He still felt like he was being rude doing that, knew that casual touches like that weren't _normal_ , but he'd figured out it calmed her down whenever he did that, so he told himself he shouldn't mind it. Plus, he liked the tingling sensation in his hand when Yachi gently touched her fingertips to his, letting him know she was okay now.

* * *

"Where'd Yamaguchi go?" Hinata wondered out loud as he looked back inside from his spot just outside the doors. "He didn't get outside before us right?" He looked around, but he didn't seem to see anyone. As he walked across the schoolyard, Tsukishima followed behind him, the air around them for once completely quiet, save for the crunch of the snow beneath their feet.

He'd expected Hinata to crouch down and throw the snow up as soon as they got outside, but it seemed Hinata had a better impulse control then Tsukishima ever gave him credit for. Or maybe it was just the fact that Yamaguchi had gone back to the classroom without Hinata knowing. Not that Tsukishima was going to tell him about it, he was glad enough for his friend's willingness to help out.

"Yamaguchi!" Hinata called out ahead of him and as they passed by the gate, Tsukishima scooped a handful of snow from the top of it and started kneading it. Again, Hinata called out and Tsukishima could feel his cheeks heat up as he caught himself wondering if Hinata would look for him like that. Would Hinata have started doing whatever frivolities he had planned with the fresh snow already if he had been the one to sneak off?

"Hey, Tsukishima, let's go back to the entrance and wait ther- what are you doing?"

Tsukishima blinked as he saw Hinata staring at his hands. Hinata's voice was so loud as he shouted the declaration of war that Tsukishima squeezed his snowball too hard and let it fall apart.

"Are you starting a snowball fight, Tsukishima?! IT'S ON!"

* * *

Kageyama watched Yachi as she put on her scarf and mitts first, then pulled her winter coat on and stared down at herself.

"Everything alright?" he asked when she showed no signs of planning to move anytime soon. He pulled the last two buttons on his coat through their holes without taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Ah.. I had though that it would be cold outside," Yachi started explaining, her eyebrows still furrowed. "And then I remembered that when I was little I would put my mitts on first because it's warmer that way… but now I can't close up my coat properly. This doesn't work."

She started to pull her mitt off, but Kageyama quickly stopped her, placing his hand over hers.

"Hold on," he told her, putting his glove back into his pocket, "I'll do it for you."

He couldn't help but think Yachi looked adorable and he was glad she averted her gaze as he zipped her up, because at least that meant she couldn't see the blush creeping up on his face.

* * *

"You jerk," Hinata mumbled as he patted his trousers down again, trying to get as much of the melting snow off of his knees as he could. "My knees are cold."

"Don't blame me," Tsukishima bit back, "you're the one who decided to tackle me down into the snow when I hadn't even done _anything_ to you." He shivered as he felt the cold seep through his coat and trousers and socks and just _everywhere_. Lying down in fresh powdery snow had never been something Tsukishima would recommend, but adding the weight of a seventeen year old pinning you down long enough for the snow to completely soak through was definitely not how Tsukishima had imagined his confession going.

He cursed inwardly, thinking he should apologise to Yamaguchi for wasting this chance his friend had given him to be _alone_ with Hinata – no Kageyama around for once – but he decided against it. It wasn't like Yamaguchi would want him to ask for forgiveness anyway.

Still, Tsukishima wondered why he was still outside, suffering the cold and pretending to wait for someone he knew wasn't going to come outside while Hinata rolled snowball after snowball and stored them around the corner of the entrance in preparation for an assault on Kageyama after school.

"Hey, are you cold, Tsukishima?"

He turned his head and looked Hinata straight in the eyes for only a second before he clicked his tongue and answered him. "What do you fucking think."

"You look like you're cold," Hinata replied and Tsukishima suppressed the urge to just walk away and accept the fact that Hinata Shouyou would forever be clueless to the massive crush he had been nursing for him since the very first day they'd met.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around his middle and Hinata's hands moved up and down Tsukishima's back quickly.

Tsukishima immediately recoiled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Keeping you warm?" Hinata responded, obviously puzzled by Tsukishima's reaction as he cuddled up to him. _He's fucking hugging me,_ was all Tsukishima could think for a while, too shocked about this fact to even react any further.

He heard a surprised sound come from Hinata when he moved his arms up to pull him closer. "You're a fucking furnace," Tsukishima commented and Hinata let out one of those laughs Tsukishima usually hated hearing so much. _Oh,_ he thought at the sound, _what a difference when it's directed at me._

* * *

When Kageyama stepped outside after Yachi, the first thing he saw was the way the low standing winter sun made her hair light up and his breath caught in his throat for a moment, before forming a cloud of condensation in front of him.

"I don't know where they went," Yachi told him, but he hardly heard it. "There are footsteps everywhere and of course he chooses the one moment we're looking for him to be quiet. HIN-"

"Yachi-san, look."

Yachi spun around and faced him, asking him what was going on, but Kageyama – glad that he'd gotten used to touching her like this – just put both hands on her shoulders to turn her around in front of him and point ahead of them at the phenomenon in the sky.

Right in the middle of a clear spot of sky, no snow clouds covering the sun, was half a rainbow hanging in the air.

Kageyama felt her shoulder rise under the one hand still on her coat and she let out a little sound in appreciation of the sight.

"How pretty."

"But there's no rain," Kageyama commented, confused. "Just snow." He counted the colours he could pick out. _Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet,_ just as he'd been taught in primary school, stretching across that bit of pale blue sky.

"Oh, it doesn't actually have to be rain, you know?" Yachi commented, digging up knowledge Kageyama had probably once had to learn for school too, but hadn't bothered to remember after (if not before) his test. "Snow can also act as a prism and…"

She stopped talking when Kageyama leaned his forehead on the top of her head, when he grabbed onto her coat a little bit tighter, afraid that if he let go, he would wind his arms around her instead.

"Kageyama… -kun?" Her voice sounded unsure, so unsure and Kageyama wanted to flee – _NOW, now that it's still possible_ – but he dug his heels into the snow under his feet and breathed in deeply before fixing his eyes on that shimmering expanse of colour and said the words he'd been too afraid to say for so long.

"I like you, Yachi-san."

* * *

Tsukishima laughed inwardly when Hinata insisted on walking him back to his classroom, pondering the ridiculousness of a guy nearly 30 centimetres shorter than him walking him to class.

"To make sure you don't collapse from a cold on the way there," Hinata had said.

"Colds don't work that fast," was all Tsukishima had been able to say back, because for once, he was in a great mood after spending an extended period of time with Hinata. Maybe it was because they'd been alone. Maybe it was the fact that Hinata had fit his arms so perfectly and had shown absolutely no signs of wanting to step out of the… _embrace,_ Tsukishima's mind provided and Tsukishima wished he would have filled the gap with a less embarrassing word.

"Well then," he told Hinata once they were back at his classroom, "I'm safe in my seat, so you're relieved of escorting duty, oh brave knight."

Hinata puffed his cheeks up at the teasing note in Tsukishima's voice. "That makes you the princess, stupid." Then he smiled and Tsukishima wondered if maybe colds do work that fast. "See you at practice."

Yamaguchi was already standing by Tsukishima's side when Hinata picked up his bento and waved at them before stepping out.

"And?" Yamaguchi asked him, "It must have gone well, right, for you to be in such a good mood?"

Tsukishima immediately pulled his face back into more disinterested expression. "I didn't get to do it."

He hadn't expected the way Yamaguchi's face scrunched up at the revelation, then turning from annoyance to disappointment and eventually determination. "I'm done with this whole mess," he told Tsukishima, before running out of the classroom.

Not even half a minute had passed before Hinata ran back into his classroom and came to a stop before Tsukishima, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down to his eye level.

"Yamaguchi said you have something really important to tell me," he said, looking straight into Tsukishima's eyes and Tsukishima felt another shiver run down his spine, though this time, it had nothing to do with the snow. "Tell me."

Tsukishima held that stare for a while before he caved in, before that weird, intense aura Hinata sometimes gave off on the court became too much for him to keep the staring contest up.

"You piss me off," Tsukishima told him, turning his head away and seeing – to his surprise – that none of his classmates had returned yet.

"WHAT? THAT'S THE IMPORTANT THING YOU HAD TO TELL ME? Tsukishima Kei, you are such a jerk! I can't beliehhhmmm."

 _Oh, how cliché can I get,_ Tsukishima wondered as he, in an empty classroom on a snowy school day, kissed his high school crush in the hopes that this, finally, would be an obvious enough way to convey just how annoying it was to be in love with Hinata Shouyou.

* * *

x

* * *

Yachi nervously poked her head around the door to the detention room and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Tsukishima already sitting at one of the desks.

When one of the other students – _delinquents!_ Yachi's mind helpfully provided – moved, she nearly chucked her bag across the room.

And Tsukishima was _smirking_ when she sat herself down next to him, as far away from the other students in the room as possible. _It's your stupid fault,_ she thought, glaring at him.

"I don't see the problem," Tsukishima replied and Yachi realised her thoughts had been showing on her face. "I think that messing with Kageyama's class' on duty schedule was pretty worth the chances it created."


End file.
